Time-controlled switch



D. H. TILLERY.- TIME CONTROLLED swncH. APPLICATION FILEDJAN. 27, I921.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

INVENTOR BY a ATT NEY.

* UNITED 'sT TEs PATENTOFFICE,

. DAVID TILLERY, OFNI IWARK, NEW JERSEY.

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To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, DAVID HQTILLERY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time-Controlled Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved time-controlled switch, and is designed to provide a switch that can 'be operated at a predetermined time so that lights or mechanism can be stopped or started without the attendance of an operator.

The'invention is so constructed as to provide a cheap and quickly attachable timeactuated device which is mounted on the switch'box of an ordinary switch, now an article of commerce, and is preferably supported by the switch box so that no additional fixtures are necessary for maintaining the device in place.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front view of a switch box with my improved time-actuated attachment in place. *igure 2 is a side view of the device shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a view of the switch box with the lid open, and Figure 4 is a detail perspective of part of the switch.

In the drawing 10 indicates an ordinary switch box with a lid 11 on the front thereof. Insidethe switch box is the switch, the form shown bein a knife switch having the blades 12 w ich are adaptedto engage the clips 13 to close the circuit. The blades are actuated, as is usual in this form of switch, by the crank-shaped rod 14 which'projects through the side 15 of the box and is formed into ahandle 16 which swings on the outside of the box. Springs 16 are attached to the crank 14 and the box to 'yieldingly hold the switch open.

The time-actuated mechanism is preferably mounted on the cover of the box, and a suitable clock support, such as a bracket 17 is arranged on the front of the lid and extends upward and is formed into a structure that holds the clock 18. The preferred form is by bending the end of the bracket 17 into a loop 19. The bracket is usually made from a strip of metal that is bent into the required form. The clock is of the usual alarm clock type and the alarm winding stem is provid i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A 25, 1922. Applicationfi led January 27,1921. Serial No; 440,357.

ed with a hook 20 n will be noted that the under part'of thehook 20 is rounded, and

when the'hook 20 operates and the alarm goes" off at the time for which it was'set, as the hook 20 rotates the ring 21 will slip off and release the end 22 of the catch which is pivoted in ears 23 on the bottom of-the clock and is provided with a short hook 24 on the front.

Pivoted to the bracket 17 is a finger 25 which is bent to form a flat wing or plate 26 which is adapted to rest on the catch 24. Secured to the finger 25 is a rod 27 which extends downward and is joined near the outer end of a latch 28 which is pivoted, as at 29, to the lid 11, and a spring 30 normally holds the latch 28 in position, but in such manner that it can yield. The latch 28 is disposed so that when the lid is shut it is in the path of travel of the handle '16, and when the handle 16 is swung from the dot ted position shown in Figure 2, which is the position it is in when the switch is open, to the position shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 2, it passes upwardover the latch and then rests 011 the top of the latch, as is shown in Figure 2, since the rod27, the finger 25 and the catch 24 are all held up in position by the hook 20.

At a predetermined time, at which the alarm clock is set, the hook 20 rotates, and as it turns over the ring 21 slips off, the catch 24 drops and the springs 16 pull the switch open, since they are of greater strength than the spring 30, the spring 30 being only strong enough to hold up the latch and the bar 27 of the finger 25. The spring 30 returns the latch and its associated parts to normal posi tion after the springs 16 have swung the switch to its open position and the handle 16 has descended below the latch.

It will be noted that this is a self-contained apparatus, the whole device being supported on the switch box, if desired, and the switch can beheld shut without being automatically opened, by supporting the device, as shown in Figure 2, in its closed position without winding the alarm attachment of the alarm clock. In this case the hook 20, of course, does not turn and the switch is maintained in its closed position. ,7 While I have described, in this application, the device as a switch-opening mechanism, it will be evident to anyone skilled in the art that it can be'similarly utilized,

by a different disposition of the springs, to close the switch, instead of opening it, at a predetermined time.

I claim:

1. A time-contro1led switch comprising a switch box with a spring-operated switch therein, a lid on the box, a handle on the switch and projecting to the outside of the casing, a bracket on the lid, a clock in the bracket, a catch on the clock and releasable by the clock mechanism, a lip pivoted on the bracket and disposed so as to be supported by the catch, a latch on the lid and in the path of the handle when the lid is closed, and a rod connecting the latch with the lip.

2. A time-controlled switch comprising a switch box with a spring-operated switch therein, a lid on the box, a handle on the switch and projecting to the outside of the casing, a bracket on the lid, a clock in the bracket, a catchon the clock and releasable by the clock mechanism, a lip pivoted on the bracket and disposed so as to be supported by the catch, a latch on the lid and in the path of the handle when the lid is closed, a rod connecting the latch with the lip, and a light spring to yieldingly support the latch when the catch is in non-supporting position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereto set my hand, this 29th day of December, 1920.

DAVID H. TILLERK 

